Death Note: Next
by X-Raita
Summary: Five years have passed since the death of Yagami Light. A new mass murderer with the power of the Death Note has appeared, acting with the same ideology as the former Kira. Near must now stop Neo Kira, but he quickly finds that Kira's successor may be even more dangerous than Light himself.
1. Chapter 1

Near absentmindedly stirred at his parfait. The girl sitting opposite from him continued prattling away, seemingly oblivious to his disinterest. Near sat back and looked up at the sky, exhaling lightly. He was now twenty-three years old. He had been acting as L for five years now. Yagami Light had been dead for almost the same amount of time, and with the exception of the C-Kira incident, the world had reverted to mostly the same state it had been in prior to Kira's appearance. Well, not quite. Kira's influence still greatly pervaded the media, and there were still a myriad of cults and talk shows devoted to him. Many still insisted Kira was only taking a break, or in hiding. But the crime rate had returned to nearly what it had once been, and a war had even begun recently. Near wondered if this would've happened if Kira had survived longer.

Having decided that none of the clouds were worth his attention, Near shifted it back to his date. She was an aspiring psychological profiler. Ironically, she was still talking about how she had come up with her profile of Kira. She was very far off, even if a few of her assumptions were reasonable. Near considered her. He had met her while sitting in on a graduate class. Not that he attended graduate school of course. The thought was laughable. But it was an easy way to meet intelligent women who were around his age. He had finally come out of his isolation recently after persistent badgering by Halle Bullook. He had found, much to his surprise, that he actually quite enjoyed the company of the opposite sex. And all of the associated benefits. Near still wasn't attempting to build up personal relationships with anyone, but it was a start at least.

This week's girl was quite attractive—a good body, pretty face, nice hair. She was incredibly vapid though, and Near was rapidly losing patience with her talk of Kira, especially when her assumptions and implications began to border on the insulting. Near still held a certain level of respect for Yagami Light after all this time, even though they had been on opposite sides; after all, Light had changed the world, albeit temporarily. He had _almost_ brought about world peace. No matter what you felt about his methodology, there was no denying that he had gotten results. Near never tried to downplay that.

So of course, for this graduate student to be completely off-base, yet talking with some sense of authority, was a bit irritating to Near. Normally, Near had no inclination to ever discuss his role in Kira's downfall, but rarely, very rarely (such as now), he had a powerful urge to tell whomever was talking about Kira to shut up so that he, the man who had actually _defeated_ Kira, could set the record straight. He held this tongue though. Was there even really a need to be insulted on Light's behalf? Even if Near respected him, Light _had_ been a psychopath with a god-complex. Hell, Near had said words of that effect to Light's face.

One of Near's two cell phones vibrated, snapping him out of his reverie. The left pocket, meaning it was likely Halle Bullook. Which meant she had a case that she thought would interest him. Near considered this; Halle rarely wasted his time, but the girl, uninteresting though she was, was clearly attracted to him. Near was certain she would go to bed with him. Near hadn't had serious mental stimulation in a good few weeks, but sex had become his favorite activity. And his late growth spurt had helped in ensuring that he was rarely lacking of it. The case would probably still be there later tonight, Near mused. He turned his attention back to the girl and resumed eating his parfait.

She had just been wrapping up her monologue, unperturbed (Near had been tactful enough to frequently make eye contact with her and nod at appropriate junctures even while lost in thought). "So Norman, what do you think?" Near decided he might as well help her and correct a few of her general misconceptions (politely and gently, of course). He opened his mouth, keeping careful note of which errors he had nodded at anyway, and was about to explain why Kira was not in his mid-thirties when his glance fell on one of the TVs in the café. He froze. His date followed his gaze and gasped. Every single TV was tuned into news stations, and most of the patrons were riveted to the screens.

_43 convicted felons died of a heart attack in the last hour._

_We have received reports of over fifty criminals dying of heart attacks._

_68 criminals have just dropped dead._

_Kira has returned._

Near was now acutely aware of why Halle had called him. He was definitely not going to put this case off. The girl was staring at the TVs, awestruck. Near frowned. It looked like taking her to bed simply wasn't an option today. Oh well. Maybe some other time. Near waited until Halle tried calling him again—for she surely would given the circumstances—then apologized to the girl, saying that he needed to take the call. Halle said mostly what Near had expected her to, but he pretended to be surprised, then mortified. He explained to his date that his grandfather had suffered from a stroke (which was technically true; just off by about forty years) and that he really needed to leave. He apologized profusely, quickly scribbled down his phone number, then hastily called a cab.

As the cab took him to his tower, where the former SPK members were already convening, he pondered this sudden turn of events. He had a gut feeling that this would be the real thing—not some petty murderer with no real ideology, like C-Kira. Whoever this new Kira was, he was killing just like Yagami Light had. The only question Near had at that moment was… would this new Kira be anywhere near the level of threat Yagami Light posed? And if this new Kira was that much of a threat, would Near be able to handle him all by himself this time? Near's victory against Light had hinged on Mello's sacrifice. Something that wouldn't be happening again. Near was positive he had grown stronger during these five years, but…

_L… I wonder what you would be thinking about right now?_

Near knew the answer, of course. L would have already been working out how to narrow down the range of where Kira could be. Near pulled out his smartphone, opened up some news streams, and set to work.


	2. Chapter 2

The former SPK members sat at a round table, discussing similarities between the victims. Each member occasionally glanced up at the multitude of TVs in the room, each displaying a different broadcast. The death count was rapidly rising. Within two hours the number of murdered criminals had tripled to nearly two hundred. The SPK suspected that there could be even more who hadn't been reported yet. So far, they had been unable to discern any patterns.

Near sat in a massive pile of LEGOs, all colored various shades of black, blue, grey, white, and yellow. After selecting a handful of the pieces he was looking for, he got on top of a step ladder and continued his work on a project that had occupied him for the last two weeks: a life-sized statue of the Shinigami, Ryuk. The former SPK members were a little unnerved by how eerily accurate the statue of Ryuk was. Even after five years, every single one of them could distinctly remember Ryuk's bizarre appearance. Near's work nearly looked like the real thing, only blockier and with sharper edges.

Rester grunted, then shuffled some papers in front of him, which caused Near to glance up. Rester knew well from experience that Near had been taking in everything around him—including every TV—while working on his project, but he preferred that Near acknowledge them before speaking. The SPK had just finished discussing how the widespread natures of the murders, and the unreliability of the timeframes of the murders, had prevented them from making any connections. "Near, is there anything you noticed?"

Near paused just as he was about to snap a part of the Ryuk statue's eye in. He turned to the SPK members and surveyed them. They looked mostly the same now, with the exception of Halle Bullook, who was eight-months pregnant with Rester's child. They had never spoken of marriage, although Near assumed the two of them were living together. Near frowned suddenly, as he realized that chasing Kira was the last place an expecting mother should be. He was going to have to remove her from the SPK—at the very least, until the child was born. Near would have to discuss this with Rester and Bullook later. At least one of them would have to leave the SPK permanently, as far as he concerned. As long as he could do anything about it, the child would not grow up an orphan.

This made Near consider another concern: The SPK would be drastically reduced in manpower. He'd need to get the SPK officially recognized again and pick up some new agents. That shouldn't be too difficult. The current president, Mark Lapel, had been one of the few national American politicians opposed to Kira who had lived through his age. Near was confident he would quickly authorize them. He would talk about this with Rester later as well. Back to the matter at hand…

Near turned back to his statue and continued his work. "This new Kira… let's call him Neo Kira... most likely came into possession of a Death Note while Yagami Light was still alive." The SPK members seemed quite surprised by this.

"What makes you say that, Near?" Halle asked.

"I've been following every recorded criminal death by heart attack for the last five years. In particular, I've been looking for deaths that occurred _in the middle_ of a crime being reported, as well as bizarre deaths. These were the hallmarks with which L originally found Kira. I haven't found any events that could reasonably be drawn to Neo Kira testing the Note, especially recently. Which leads me to conclude that Neo Kira did not feel a need to test the Death Note in extravagant ways. I suspect that he or she quickly figured out that the Death Note was how Kira was executing criminals, and after an initial test, Neo Kira became assured of the Note's power. Why Neo Kira would wait this long to start killing, though, I can't say at the moment. Perhaps Neo Kira fancied him or herself a disciple of Kira and was waiting for him to return. I can't be sure yet, though."

Rester frowned. That would mean that they could have maybe found a hint by looking for criminals who had died from heart attacks, but whose names had not been written in the two Death Notes. But those were long gone; Near had burned the Death Notes then and there in the warehouse after Ryuk had killed Light. This had seemed out of character at the time, and it wasn't until much later that Rester had even considered the possibility that Near might have been trying to hide something. Such as writing Mikami Teru's name in the Note…? Rester shook his head and dismissed the notion. Even if that had happened, it was in the past. The present was much more of a concern. And even if it was true, then they'd probably all be dead now if Near hadn't done it. No use dwelling on it.

Still, that lack of resources was a nuisance. They still had the copy Gevanni had made of Mikami's Death Note, but that wasn't nearly comprehensive enough by itself to be worth combing through. "So what do you think we should do, Near?"

Near was silent as he added the last few pieces that he was holding, then stepped off the ladder. He walked over to a mini-fridge and pulled out a bar of chocolate. He walked back to the stepladder, sat down, and began eating quietly. Rester knew better than to continue speaking when Near was like this. The genius was concentrating, trying to think. The room became quiet, save for the drone of the TVs (all set to a very low volume) and the sounds of Near chewing and swallowing. After he was about halfway through with the bar, Near finally looked back up. "Well, since we can't track Neo Kira, we'll need to flush him out."


	3. Chapter 3

Near got up from his seat, nibbling on an ever-present chocolate bar. Mark Lapel, the President of the United States, was giving Near a warm smile as he extended his hand in greeting. Near thought the smile was sincere, but you never could tell with a skilled politician. Near matched Lapel's gaze and kept it as they shook hands. He then glanced around the Oval Office. He wondered if L had ever stepped foot in here.

"So, you are the great L. I've heard quite a bit about you! I was given a sizeable dossier on you when I was sworn in. If even half of the information there was true, we could really use your help."

"Then you will re-authorize the Special Provision for Kira?"

Lapel nodded. "I'm having files drawn up about the FBI and CIA agents we have deemed skilled enough to be added to the SPK. With your approval, of course. We'll be sending you the files—with codenames and no pictures, of course—I trust this information will not be intercepted by anyone?"

Near nodded. His security was some of the best in the world. Likely better than the FBI's and CIA's. "Thank you for your speed in answering my request, Mr. President. Having a rejuvenated SPK at my command will make this much easier." Lapel had had only one stipulation to immediately reinstating the SPK—meeting Near face to face. Rester hadn't liked the idea, but finally consented when Near agreed to wear a mask everywhere but the Oval Office. Near had of course chosen the L mask he had worn on the day Kira died, although he had punched out the bottom to allow him to eat chocolate while wearing it.

"Do you have any leads, L?"

"None, at the moment. It seems Neo Kira has been careful not to make any early blunders. I'm planning on going public soon to flush him out."

Lapel frowned. "Is there anything I could do to help?"

Near was surprised by the sudden offer. He began to consider what advantages the President could offer him. What information did Near have available? So far, only the details of reported murders. The information provided from this alone was not enough to narrow the scope of his search. Near considered the one similarity he _had _noticed: every single death so far had happened to criminals who had been convicted of murder, whose trials and outcomes had been publicly announced. The thing to note about that though, was that it had been internationally been agreed upon (after years of debate) to require that every government keep convictions of criminals out of the public record for one year after the conviction. So far, Neo Kira had only killed criminals whose names had been released.

Near had a sudden thought. What if Neo Kira was capable of acquiring access to names that hadn't been publicly released, but simply hadn't used that information yet to avoid drawing suspicion? If so, that would mean that Neo Kira had found an information leak, or had hacked his way into secure government databases. And if Near could find evidence of either of those things, he'd finally have a starting point.

"Yes, Mr. President. I think you can help me. I'm going to request that all governments stop publicizing any information about the results of any homicide trials. It would be very helpful if you would be the first to agree."

Lapel's eyebrows raised, then scrunched up as he frowned again. He walked over to the circular windows behind his desk and turned his back to Near. He was quiet for a few moments. "L, that is going to take some political wrangling. Not that I can't do it but…" He sighed, then turned back to Near. "The country has been very divided about Kira. Even though the public is currently mostly against Kira, it is very possible that their support will quickly shift back to him."

"All the more reason to find Neo Kira as soon as possible."

Lapel's brow furrowed again. "L, there are… risks… to me doing this. If this Kira is anything like the last…" Lapel turned back to the window, and his tone grew somber. "We've already lost one President to Kira. This nation can't afford to lose another."

Near weighed his options. He was owed a few political favors by other nations, and could proceed without Lapel's help, but having the backing of the United States on this plan would still be very beneficial. If he made this play though, he would damage the amicable relations that Lapel had been trying to establish. Furthermore, if his suspicion was correct, he would be wasting a powerful asset by using this card so early. Still, he needed to be absolutely sure that he could trust the President...

Near wanted to hold onto this card but… perhaps he could flash a card without playing his hand?

"That shouldn't be a problem, since Mark Lapel isn't your real name."

Lapel's reaction was exactly as Near had hoped. He wheeled around, shocked, then quickly donned a poker face. "What are you saying?"

Near had only been 65% certain, but Lapel's reaction was all the confirmation that he needed. "I'm saying, that if you were not born with the name Mark Lapel, then Kira probably would not have been able to kill you, and neither will Neo Kira now."

This was not strictly true. If Neo Kira had already made the eye deal, then Lapel could be in legitimate danger. Frankly Near was surprised that Mikami had not killed Lapel himself. Then again, Mikami had not paid much attention to politics while he was being watched by the SPK. It occurred to Near that there was a very slight chance that his investigation had saved the President-to-be's life at the time—who could tell what Mikami would have done if he had not been watched by the SPK and had been more free to kill as he pleased?

"A-are you trying to imply something, L?" Lapel asked, trying his best to calm himself and gain control of the situation.

"No. However, your opponents might."

Lapel stiffened, then regained his composure. Near's meaning was not lost on him. "You're threatening me, aren't you?"

"No. I would prefer to keep you as an ally, and have your uncoereced support if possible. Besides, I have no intention of wasting such a potentially large trump card on something like this. And even if I did wish to, I have no proof... yet. For the moment, at worst I can only cause you some political grievances when people accuse you of not being a national-born American. But if you've gone this long without that information being discovered, then it's not likely that it will happen now, so you're not in much danger."

Lapel's eyes narrowed. He was still on edge, but Near could see that his words had assured the President, somewhat. Hopefully just enough for Lapel to do as Near wished but not be _too_ weary of him.

Lapel was still thinking, brow furrowed. Finally, he sighed. "Very well, L. I'll do as you ask."

"Thank you. If you have anything you need help in, please let me know so that I can return the favor." Hopefully this would help repair some of the damage to the relationship that Near had just done, but Near wasn't too hopeful.

Lapel nodded. "I appreciate the offer, L. Good day. My security will escort you out."

"Good day, Mr. President." Near slipped the L mask back on and pulled out another bar of chocolate.


	4. Chapter 4

"You _WHAT_?!" Rester nearly shouted.

"I improvised. L always said I needed to work on my initiative," Near replied calmly. Halle quietly glanced over her shoulder at Near, then back to Rester.

Rester scowled and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "Near… I don't think you realize how significant a bridge you just burned. The President would have been a very powerful friend to have, and now he's going to be cautious around you. It'll be much more difficult to get help from him now."

"I can still get a favor out of him if I need to," Near casually replied. "I was very careful to leave open an implication that I might dig around and find out his real name." He adjusted his mask and took another bite of chocolate.

"And do you think that he'd be likely to help us after that favor was used up?" Rester asked.

"I don't intend to need a favor beyond that one," Near retorted.

"That's short-sighted and you know it," Rester snapped.

"I managed to get the SPK reinstated, get the President to agree to help further our investigation, and got an assurance that I'd be able to call on him again. We had no guarantees that being friendly with him would get us anything." Although Near was still perfectly calm, both Rester and Halle had known him long enough to recognize when he was becoming agitated.

Halle had been quiet, but finally spoke. "Near, what aren't you telling us?" Rester gave her a quizzical look.

Near was silent for some time. It had begun to rain. Rester returned his focus to driving, and Halle watched the patterns of the rain drops as they streaked down the window, patiently waiting for Near to respond. Finally, he spoke.

"There was another reason for pushing him like that. I… I had to make sure that he couldn't be blackmailed by Kira."

Both Rester and Halle snapped their attention back to Near. They had immediately understood his meaning.

"Near…" Halle said softly. "You still haven't let that go, have you?" Near said nothing. Rester was also silent, staring intently at the road. He was clearly thinking back to that day, when the SPK had been nearly wiped out. Only they and Gevanni had survived. It had been one of the few times the pair had seen Near show anguish. Halle wondered which had weighed most heavily on Near's mind at the time: the deaths of his comrades, Mello's betrayal, or his own feeling of powerlessness? Halle thought she might have a better understanding of that answer now.

"I'm tired. I'm going to sleep. Please wake me when we get back to the tower," Near murmured.

Halle knew better, though. Near had no intention of sleeping. He was going to fake it so that he could think and plan undisturbed. Or maybe he simply wanted to preoccupy himself with something other than that horrible memory. Halle glanced over her shoulder. Near was almost silent, faking the rhythmic breathing of sleep. The mask made it impossible to get any read on him. She knew better than to think that Near was crying, but she couldn't help but notice that the shadows of the rain drops looked like tears on the L mask's face.


	5. Chapter 5

Today is a good day, Will Reefer thought. Reefer loved clear, cloudless, bright days like today. He wished he could go outdoors more often, though his profession and schedule allowed little time for it. One of his favorite recreational activities was just walking through the big cities in the middle of the day, especially in autumn when it was just nippy enough to really feel alive, but not so cold that Reefer felt uncomfortable. Reefer greatly enjoyed wading through the stream of countless human lives, applying his skills at deductive reasoning to learn things he would never need to know again about people he would never meet again. He just enjoyed the sense of being familiar with so many human beings. After all, he was a people person.

Floating behind him, Sangemh dutifully wrote the names of the criminals listed on Reefer's smartphone who had been selected for judgment today. The languid Shinigami's image evoked blood. His body was colored a mixture of crimson and scarlet, and he had languid, powerful, sinewy limbs that seemed to flow from his body. His oval head bore piercing yellow eyes and spiky white hair, while jagged wings that almost looked like scabs sprouted from his back. Sangemh's lengthy recovery in the Shinigami Realm had done him good—no longer was his bodily horribly twisted and mangled, and his limbs were no longer bent at angles unnatural even to a Shinigami.

Reclaiming Reefer's memories of the Death Note—for they agreed that it would be safest for Reefer to forget during Sangemh's absence—had been a simple enough task. All it had taken was Sangemh finding the piece of the Death Note Reefer had hidden away, revealing himself to Reefer, and then finally having Reefer dig up both Sangemh and Niborrah's Death Notes, which had been buried where no one would find them. As Reefer had not passed on ownership of either Note, the memories associated with them came rushing back once he touched and reclaimed them.

For Reefer, Sangemh's absence had effectively seemed like it lasted for mere minutes, when in reality the Shinigami had been gone for nearly eight years. Reefer had felt the years of course, but once Sangemh had returned it had felt like he had never really left. When the Shinigami's recovery was finally over, Sangemh had abused a loophole in the rules of the Note, as Shinigami can only visit the human realm under certain conditions—one of them being to stalk a victim. Sangemh had descended to the human world with the intent of finding said victim. Or at least, that was one of his intents. He had chosen a convicted murderer, as Reefer had requested eight years ago. After Reefer had reclaimed his memories, Sangemh had gone to track down the murderer and dispose of him—thus he completed his "original" business in the human realm, but no was no longer obligated to return to the Shinigami realm since he was now once more attached to a human.

Reefer reached up to touch the deactivated Bluetooth in his ear, so that he could speak to Sangemh without drawing any attention. "How are things going?" he asked, deliberately speaking in as inconspicuous of a manner as he could.

"Roughly 60% done," Sangemh replied. "Please scroll down."

Reefer obliged. The young law student was twenty years old. He was quite tall, with short black hair and a surprisingly athletic build, given that he was perhaps the world's greatest hacker and had little time to keep himself in good physical shape, all things considered. It of course helped that Sangemh had been doing every execution, giving Reefer much more time to get things done. Reefer was restless though. He knew that it would only be a matter of time until he had some real opposition, and he was impatient about it.

Yes, L was the one he wanted to defeat. Judging by Kira's absence over the last five years, it was apparent that something had happened to him. He was certain L had had something to do with it; after all, L was the only person who had ever publicly bested Kira. It had taken Reefer months to hunt down a video of L's Kanto-exclusive screening, but he had finally found it. He would not fall for such bait, and as such had been very careful about the killings. As the successor to Kira, Reefer would not allow himself to be beaten by L. Reefer would personally kill him. Not for the sake of the old Kira, though. Reefer would do it to prove himself as the true Kira, and eliminate any real opposition to his reign. Oh, it would be so glorious.

Sangemh lightly tapped Reefer on the shoulder. Shaken from his reverie, Reefer glanced up, then scrolled his smartphone's list down. Sangemh shook his head, then pointed to one of the giant televisions in the middle of the downtown city. Reefer's eyes followed the line, and came to a news report.

On it, President Mark Lapel was announcing an executive order he had just signed, prohibiting the release of information about convicted criminals due to the return of Kira.

Reefer frowned. This was too sudden and decisive of an action for the President to have done it single-handedly in the quagmire of American politics. Someone was pulling the strings.

Reefer's lips curved into a grim smile. _L_.

Reefer considered this new situation. Obtaining names and faces would not be a problem, of course. Not for a hacker as talented as himself. But he knew L was not stupid. He wouldn't think this would actually do anything to restrict a competent Kira. This wasn't an attempt to limit Kira's access to victims. It was bait. Reefer grinned. L wanted him to hack. Reefer had clearly left him without any solid leads. So L was trying to make some. Interesting.

Reefer began to chuckle. Excellent. The game was finally on. _Alright, L. I'll meet your little challenge._


	6. Chapter 6

"Near. Take a look at this," Halle called from across the room, sitting in front of the main computer.

Near glanced up, idly twirling a few darts in his fingers. Rester didn't know how anyone could do it (_I really shouldn't be surprised by this kind of thing anymore, _he reflected), but Near had been building a strikingly accurate, fairly large model of the Eiffel Tower out of darts. The five new SPK agents had all watched with fascination (when they weren't staring at the statue of Ryuk, which had a new, sinister significance now that they had been debriefed on the Death Notes) as Near worked. Rester was sure they were questioning how this guy had been the one to defeat Kira. Rester had to admit that if he hadn't known Near for as long as he had, he probably would have questioned it too. But Rester had a feeling that Near was about to assuage the new recruits' uncertainties.

Near got to his feet, chocolate notably absent today. Perhaps he had run out and had been too preoccupied to ask Halle to go get some for him. He walked over to the main computer, where Halle had just vacated the seat for him. He sat down in it hunched over, swiveled to quickly survey his new underlings (seemingly just for the sake of swiveling in the chair), then turned back to what Halle had wanted to bring to his attention.

It was a thread on the world's largest Kira fan-forum, created by a user with a single post. Whose username was Kira. Near turned and cocked his eyebrow quizzically at Halle.

"Early this morning, every account on that forum that implied a user was Kira was deleted, including an account named Kira that originally had over a thousand posts. Then this account appeared and posted this thread," Halle explained.

Near turned back to the screen and focused on the message, which was written in Japanese. Below it, half of the English translation was visible. He was halfway through reading the message when someone coughed politely. Near turned around to see one of the new agents, codenamed Gregory Hamlin, politely pointing to the English text. _Ah_. Near realized that the majority of these recruits did not speak or read Japanese. He had become so accustomed to everyone on the SPK being able to do so (for it had been established at the group's conception that Kira was Japanese and that communication with the Japanese task force would be necessary) that he sometimes spoke to them in the language when he wanted to use one of its idioms that wouldn't translate well into English. Near quickly scrolled down, bringing the English text into full view.

_Greetings. _

_I am Kira. I expect all of you to accept this and remember it. I would not like to have to deal with any more distasteful impersonators. My purpose here is to officially announce my return. I hereby challenge L. L, I'm sure that you will read this. Know that I have already seen through your first ruse. Know that my past incarnation shall be avenged._

_To prove that I am who I say that I am, Walter Canterburry, a convicted rapist and murderer, will die today at 4:30 PM, standard time._

Near reread the message, and then reread it again. Then he scrolled back up to read the original Japanese one more time. Twirling the darts in one hand, Near twisted a curl of his hair around a finger. Something was off here. Near expertly tossed two of the darts at a poster on the far left wall, coming closer to completing the signature L insignia that he had been adding to for weeks.

Near furrowed his brow as he thought. Walter Canterburry was definitely a familiar name. Near had been learning as many names of potential targets as he could, hoping that he might be able to predict a sequence of deaths and thereby discern a pattern. Canterburry was certainly not dead—yet. Near rapidly thought back to everything he could remember about the case (and there was quite a bit). Slowly, he began to feel something click. If Canterburry did die at the stated time today… Near began furiously calculating in his head. _If I'm correct, Canterburry will end up being the 87__th__ person to be killed by Neo Kira today, with a standard deviation of three. Which could mean…_ Yes, a pattern was beginning to emerge. But why was Neo Kira making such a show about this? Yes, something was definitely off here…

"Near, do you want us to track the IP?" Gregory asked. Gregory knew of course that they would have to wade through hundreds, if not thousands, of redirects from proxy servers.

"That won't be necessary, Mr. Hamlin. It will certainly be a dead end and a waste of our time," Near replied, twirling the remaining dart ever-faster. "Besides," he said, whipping his arm out and throwing the dart directly at his unfinished replica tower, causing it to collapse.

"This person is _not_ Neo Kira."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Well, well, well, well," Reefer chuckled to himself. "Sangemh. Come look at this." The Shinigami floated over to look at the forum Reefer wished him to see. Reefer had been careful to keep his eye on the Kira fan-sites; they occasionally provided information that would be a nuisance to acquire on his own, and the rumors posted on them sometimes held half-truths.

"How interesting. We were going to kill Canterburry at this time, weren't we?" Sangemh nodded. He could distinctly remember that name and time on the list he had perused earlier today.

"But, this doesn't seem like L's doing, especially since he just made his political move. He wouldn't waste something like that just for a distraction. No… there must be a third player here," Reefer mused. "It could just be a coincidence and a hacker with too much free time on his hands but…" Reefer scratched his chin contemplatively. "Sangemh, what do you think?"

"I think that this imposter's choice of time and victim is far too unlikely to be a coincidence. Whoever this person is has discerned a pattern in your methods. "

Reefer nodded. "So the question is then, is this third party with or against L, or L himself?" Reefer steepled his fingers. After some minutes, he sighed. "Well then. I suppose we could just let the appointed time pass, then resume killings to expose the fake." Reefer frowned. "However… if L isn't the fake-Kira, then he might not realize that it isn't me. But that would mean whoever this was might have figured out a pattern before L…"

As far as Reefer was concerned, L had now discerned a pattern (whether or not because of this incident). No matter how Reefer reacted to this, L had already received valuable insight into Reefer's methodology. Even if Reefer changed his pattern, the damage would still be done. In fact, changing things could give L even more of an advantage. As things stood, even if L figured out Reefer's patterns, it would still not be any help in narrowing down Reefer's geographical position. Reefer could afford to make this concession. In fact, not making it could turn out to be an unnecessary risk.

Might as well play along then. Reefer entertained the possibility that this fake-Kira was actually looking for him, personally. Perhaps this person was looking to join Kira, using Canterburry as an invitation. Killing him would be equivalent to an acknowledgement. Reefer stroked his chin, weighing all of his options and the possible outcomes. This fake-Kira could potentially be even smarter than L. There was no real risk in following through with his original plan as far as he could tell, and he stood to potentially gain from it.

"Sangemh, proceed as planned."


	7. Chapter 7

Near fiddled with his hair as he re-read the fake Neo Kira's message. There was more to this. Certainly, this was not the work of Neo Kira. Not to say that Neo Kira would have never done something like this; rather, Near was sure someone else had been behind this, and he could therefore rule out Neo Kira as the perpetrator.

_I hereby challenge L._

That was the crux. The rivalry between Kira and L had been clear to the public, if undetailed. Even with such a long absence from Kira, Neo Kira would've accompanied that line with more context, such as discussing his role as Kira's successor more clearly.

That line, however, would make much more sense if it came from someone other than Neo Kira. A third party. And this third party had figured out a pattern in Neo Kira's methodology before Near himself had. And that third party had wanted L—him—to know about it. Did this mean a rival detective, or a potential ally? Near reread the paragraph, and his eye caught on the last line.

_Know that my past incarnation shall be avenged._

In the context of Neo Kira delivering the message, it would have clearly referred to Yagami Light. But coming from someone opposed to Kira, it could mean someone else. It also more overtly meant that this person knew that Neo Kira was not the original Kira.

But who could it be referring to? Someone related to the Kira case somehow, surely. _Such as the original L?_ Near thought with a start. But only Yagami Light and Mello could have made such a claim with any sort of authenticity, and both were dead. Furthermore, L's killer was already dead, meaning that he had already been avenged. It was possible he had chosen other protégées before he had discovered Near and Mello but... Near couldn't shake an odd feeling. Perhaps not L, but... maybe someone else from Wammy House?

At the moment this was only idle speculation, but Near felt that this imposter might have a connection to Wammy House. Near put a number to that sentiment, and came up with a 45%. Probably worth checking out. He glanced at the time. Four hours remained until Canterburry would supposedly die. Near hated waiting, especially without chocolate.

"Halle", he called. She looked up. The woman had been in the middle of gathering her belongings from her desk in a corner of the main room. Near had delivered the news of her dismissal shortly after the new SPK agents had arrived. She had taken it rather well, and—much to Near's chagrin—seemed to have silently guessed Near's underlying reason for keeping her and the unborn child out of harm's way.

"Where do you buy my chocolate?" he asked.

"Near, you don't mean to say you're actually going to do that for yourself now?" Halle asked, amused.

Near frowned. "This isn't a laughing matter, woman." Near was beginning to feel uneasy. Halle had gotten a devious look in her eye.

"Well then," she sighed in exaggerated exasperation. "If you're going to be like that, I'll have to attach a price to my knowledge."

_Shit._

Near knew exactly where this was going before she even said it. "I want you to take the day off, effective immediately, and go find a date. You've been in here for nearly a week now. It's not healthy for you."

"Dammit," Near cursed under his breath. Unfortunately, she had him over a barrel; the prospect of working this case without good chocolate seemed unbearable. He had no choice. It was only thanks to Halle that Near was as capable as he was in social settings with girls; her constant advice and persistent badgering him into going out had attributed greatly to his success. So of course, she intended to force him to go out one last time while she was still in his employ and he was still in her power. It wasn't that Near didn't enjoy dating, but he utterly _loathed_ being forced to abandon a case, even if only temporarily.

"You realize I won't get to see what happens to Canterburry, right?" Near asked, now quite annoyed.

"You can always find that out later. Besides, knowing you, you'll be paying attention to that no matter where you are."

She had a point.

"Fine. Just tell me what I want to know," Near conceded, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Uh-uh-uh", Halle retorted in a mocking, motherly way. "How will I have any assurance if I do that? I'll order your chocolate when you've left." Near cursed under his breath again. Halle always ordered the chocolate from her personal phone, as opposed to the main computer where Near could've easily pulled up records and found it out himself. "After that", she continued, "I'll leave the number with Anthony and instruct him not to give it to you until tomorrow."

Near groaned in an exaggerated way that he only allowed himself to do when he was alone with Halle. "Fine. I'm going, I'm going…" He got out of his chair and made for the door, already correcting his usually poor posture.

"For heaven's sake Near, take a shower and put on some fresh clothes first."

Near glanced down and realized that he had been wearing the same button-down white shirt and jeans for the last three days. _Oh_. Near began to wonder how he was going to function without Halle looking after him.


	8. Chapter 8

Near gazed into the mirror as he toweled his hair dry. Halle could be a serious nuisance when she wanted to be, but he was going to miss her presence and advice. He had decided that it would be safest for her if he cut off ties with her completely (at least, until the case was solved). He supposed that he should probably keep dating, even without Halle persistently pushing him to do it. Unbidden, a memory rose to the front of his mind.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_"Near, when you were younger, did anyone ever give you… 'the talk'?"_

_"No, not when I was younger, but the prostitutes explained it well enough." _

_"P-p-prostitutes?!" Halle sputtered._

_Near turned to her in mild annoyance. "Why do you sound so surprised? I've always been a curious boy, and that was the easiest and most effective means to my ends. I'm an introvert, not a naïf. Did you really expect me to act like some lovestruck fool about it?" He asked rather pointedly._

_Halle struggled to process this new information, unsure of which was more unnerving: the fact that Near had already had sex, or his disregard for people. But she pressed on. "Haven't you ever thought about girls in other ways?" Halle paused. She really wasn't very good at this sort of thing. "Haven't you ever thought of trying to be extroverted for once?"_

_"Halle, is this about passing on my genes? There are plenty of covert government superhuman breeding projects. If you insist I could send the requisite semen samples to the better ones," Near said nonchalantly._

_Halle balked. "That's… that's not exactly what I was getting at Near…"_

_"Oh?" Near glanced at her quizzically. He twisted a finger into his hair and looked pensively at Halle. His eyes suddenly narrowed in suspicion. "Why are you asking about this so suddenly, anyway? Is it because of Commander Rester?"_

_Halle flushed. She didn't like how unnervingly perceptive Near could be. Her relationship with Anthony had made her realize that Near had probably never had anything like that. "He… well, I just…" Halle sighed and bit the bullet. "I just want you to be able to experience something like that."_

_"Love?"_

_"I didn't say anything about love!" Halle snapped defensively. It was still far too early in her relationship with Anthony to think about that. She sighed, exasperated. "Near I'm just worried about you being so… alone."_

_"I've always been alone, Halle."_

_Halle flinched. That had been a misstep, and the barely perceptible emotion in Near's voice was proof of it. Halle couldn't quite tell what emotion that had been; it could've been anger, or sadness, or bitterness, or maybe a combination of those. Near didn't give away his genuine emotions very often, or at least in a way that was easy to read._

_"Don't you want to try to change that? Do you really have anything to lose from at least trying?"_

_Near frowned. Why did the woman insist in meddling in his affairs? He sighed to himself. Of course, he couldn't bring himself to mind it. Because, although he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he had come to view Halle and Rester as parental figures. Ever since childhood he had wanted parents, even though he hadn't admitted it to himself until he was much older, when Rester and Halle had become involved in his life beyond the Kira case. Upon realizing how he viewed the two, Near had immediately noted the irony of both of his parental figures being his subordinates._

_So he tolerated Halle's attempts at intervention, and gave her leeway he wouldn't have afforded anyone else. He knew she wasn't just going to let this go, but he really didn't want to deal with it right now. He'd just get her to put it off until later._

_"Alright, Halle, alright… I'm busy right now, but maybe some other time you could teach me how to… interact with women." Near was about to turn back to the monitor when he suddenly froze. He had taken a second to select the word "interact", and he suddenly realized that in that context, that pause and word choice could be construed as… __**suggestive**__. Near blanched in horror. He quickly spun to face Halle. "B-b-but not like that I mean. I simply meant you telling me how to act around them and not actually, you know, __**showing**__ me how to do that sort of thing, and…" Near trailed off, cheeks burning._

_Halle stared at him blankly for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. She had never seen Near this flustered before, and it was adorable. Halle was doubled over laughing so hard, but she managed to reign herself in. Near's face was still scarlet when she regained control of herself, a few involuntary giggles slipping out. Near scowled. "Anyway I probably won't be busy on Wednesday, so we can schedule it for then," Near muttered hurriedly. "I won't need anything else today, so you're dismissed." He thought for a moment and suddenly remembered something. "Oh, but be sure to order me some more chocolate before you go. Please."_

_Halle smiled. Near's expression had remained the same while he rushed through his words. He was clearly uncomfortable and wanted this discussion to be over with as soon as possible. She turned and walked to the door. "Yes, dear," Halle murmured as she left the room._

_Near pretended not to hear the altered syllable, but he allowed himself a tiny smile._


End file.
